Countries around the world have expressed “severe concerns” about the Israeli parliament's decision to outlaw a United Nations organisation that has been helping Palestinian refugees since 1950.
A 1967 treaty – the Protocol on the Status of Refugees – permits the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to offer services to Palestinian refugees in regions under Israeli control. However, it was revoked on Monday (October 28), when the Knesset passed two laws prohibiting UNRWA from operating within Israel and prohibiting Israeli authorities from interacting with UNRWA in any way, designating it a terrorist organisation.
The bill's creator and Likud member Boaz Bismuth, stated: “Anyone that behaves like a terrorist has no rights in Israel… UNRWA equals Hamas, period.”
Despite tremendous international pressure from Western countries and vehement resistance from Arab Knesset members, the move proceeded.
With 92 votes in favour and 10 votes against, the first law was enacted. With 87 votes in favour and nine against, the second was embraced.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini promptly denounced the vote, calling it the latest in the ongoing campaign to discredit UNRWA and delegitimise its role towards providing human-development assistance and services to Palestine refugees. He also said the bills are a violation of international law.
What is UNRWA?
In times of conflict, the agency’s services provide health care, education, relief and social services as well as other resources to Palestinian refugees.
It maintains representative offices in New York, Geneva, and Brussels, and employs more than 30,000 people throughout the Middle East, the majority of whom are refugees.
It has almost 13,000 workers stationed in Gaza alone, with more than 4,000 employees in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In order to provide direct assistance and work programmes for Palestine refugees, UNRWA was created by the United Nations on December 8, 1949, following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that created the State of Israel.
The agency opened on May 1, 1950 and the General Assembly has extended UNRWA's mandate, most recently until June 30, 2026, in the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee crisis.
The UNRWA states that, today, some 5.9 million Palestine refugees are eligible for the services.
Their mission is to assist Palestinian refugees, but it is not authorised to relocate them.
Resettlement of refugees is the responsibility of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), but UNRWA's operational regions are not included in its mandate.
Why is Israel banning UNRWA?
Israeli officials argue that descendants of the 1948 refugees do not qualify for refugee status under UNRWA's criteria and, as a result, they are not entitled to return to their ancestral homes in modern-day Israel.
Yulia Malinovsky, a lawmaker for the Israel Beitenu party, told CNN on Sunday, October 27: “UNRWA… is selling them (Palestinians) stories that they will be able to come back to Israel. This will not happen.”
Israel has also claimed that certain UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attack in various capacities. Although the US and other states froze financing for UNRWA earlier this year while the charges were being looked into, the organisation vehemently disputed the accusations. On its website, it states it has received no evidence from Israel to back up this claim.
The agency began looking into Israel's claims in January and ended the contracts of those it identified. With the exception of the US, its largest donor, the majority of countries have since resumed support.
What is the rest of the world saying?
Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the UK are not in favour of Israel’s legislation, citing "severe concern" about its potential ramifications.
In a joint statement, foreign ministers of the above countries said: “UNRWA provides essential and life-saving humanitarian aid and basic services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and throughout the region.”
The US, despite suspending funding to UNRWA, has opposed the ban, and said the Biden administration was “deeply concerned”.
